Tourexpi
This
hospital specialises in caring for children in the Hudson Valley who severe
illnesses and injuries and uses play therapy as part of the treatment. RIU
lends its support to their Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy department.
This action forms part of RIU’s Proudly Committed sustainability
strategy, whose main actions focus on child protection, education and health.
Maria
Fareri Children’s Hospital is a Level I Trauma Centre and is the only
paediatric intensive care and burn units in its region. These facilities offer
programmes specialising in the recovery of children in critical medical
situations, such as after serious accidents or burns.
For
children, these experiences can be especially traumatic, and is why the
hospital has a Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy department. This
team uses art and other therapeutic tools to help child patients and their
families cope with their hospital stay and treatment. It has been
scientifically proven that play therapy and art have a positive impact on
patient recovery. Child Life and Creative Arts specialists guide the children
and their families through the entire process, offering emotional and psychological
support.
RIU
provides funding for a certified Child Life specialist to concentrate directly
on the paediatric patients at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital. RIU’s
contribution has also helped to develop educational and support materials
adapted to the native language of patients and their families, allowing them to
better understand and participate in the recovery process. These professionals
are highly trained to help people faced with serious illnesses, improving their
overall patient welfare.
Each
year, over 3,000 children are seen at this hospital, where the Child Life and
Creative Arts Therapy department strives to make their hospital stay easier.
Activities such as painting sessions, singing classes and therapeutic games
offer patients a space to switch off from the hospital environment, minimising
the social and emotional impact of hospitalisation. These activities also help
to provide families with respite care as part of the hospital’s overarching
support.
This
collaboration is RIU’s first social project in the United States, where RIU
already has five establishments. In New York, there is the Riu
Plaza New York Times Square and the Riu
Plaza Manhattan Times Square, offering 1,303 rooms between them. RIU is
soon to open a third hotel in New York, the Riu Plaza Broadway, which will be
the chain’s biggest there with 673 rooms, right at the heart of the city.
For
further information please visit: www.riu.com
Image
Credit: © RIU Hotels & Resorts
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